Alpha, an abandoned robot, runs a small shop in the backwoods of Japan. With an ever-present lack of customers, she passes the days enjoying the little things in life, such as the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and conversation with her neighbors. But when a typhoon emerges and damages the shop, Alpha decides to embark on a journey to see other parts of Japan, expand her horizons, and explore other aspects of life.
Neo Venezia, the pride of planet Aqua, is a quaint city filled with canals and easy-going people. Many companies operate their gondolas on the canals, giving tours to tourists and locals alike, but the most famous of them is the Aria Company. Follow the adventures of Aria's young apprentice, Akari, as she learns the tricks of the trade from her beautiful senior, Alicia. Together with her friends Aika and Alice, apprentices of rival companies, and their seniors Akira and Athena, they train their skills as gondoliers, meeting new people and learning new things about the city each day.
Yokohama and Aria are set in the future with a neat setting of high-tech advances, but both anime are extremely tranquil; it is purely slice of life. You'll really see this unheavy feeling within the use of colours and simply the events that occur. Aria the Animation occurs outside of Earth, and the colours used are beautiful since they use a lot of water elements.
Both Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou and Aria fall in the category of slice-of-life seinen 'healing' anime. They're pretty to look at, have a relaxed plotline, and have mellow jazz soundtracks.
In fact, they're so much alike in most ways that it's probably more useful to focus on the few differences: Aria is about young women; YKK is about a humanoid robot of indeterminate age. Aria has sentient cats as primary cast members, and President Aria in particular annoys some viewers. YKK is post-apocalyptic; Aria is post-diaspora.
If you like one, there's a very high probability that you'll like the other.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: Quiet Country Cafe and Aria the Animation are two shows about absolutely nothing. Both have pretty graphics and music. Warning both may cause drowsiness. If you liked one you'll probably like the other.
If you enjoyed the slow-paced slice-of-life style in Yokohama, then you may want to consider watching Aria. If you liked the more modern twist of seeing how a robotic girl copes with her life in a seemingly traditional world, then you may find the world of Neo Venezia in Aria intriguing.
Liked the quiet, relaxing and warm feeling of YKK: QCC? Then you should defenitely try out Aria, which is the only series to provide you with equal or even greater sensations of those feelings.
A young woman quietly falls to the earth, escorted by a solitary crow. This sort of dream, as many other before have dreamed, comes just before being reborn as a Haibane, a charcoal-winged angel. On the outskirts of the walled-in city lies Old Home, a haven for Haibane to study, live, and learn, while waiting for their chance to ascend to the heavens and escape the confines of their new world. Rekka is the newest inhabitant of Old Home who wants nothing more than to remember her past and discover the secrets of her kind. Together with Reki, Kuu and plenty of other new friends, Rakka will laugh, explore, and search for the meaning of their existence in the process.
Ocean Waves is a coming of age tale centered around Taku, an ordinary high school student, his best friend Matsuno, and Rukiko, a reserved outcast who has caught Matsuno's eye. While bounds of friendship are tested, unlikely relationships grow and flourish in this made for television movie.
Whisper of the Heart is a touching Ghibli slice-of-life story, about a young girl named Shizuku. While riding the train, she notices a fat cat riding alongside her. Following the cat, she finds a shop where she is told an enchanting story of a gold statue named "The Baron". WotH follows Shizuku in her struggles to grow, and her budding love with the shopkeeper's son.
Deep in the mountains lies a library with the same name as one of its caretakers, Kokoro. With her sisters Inna and Aruto, she strives to uphold the best characteristic of a librarian -- to help users with all her heart. Join young Kokoro as she starts the journey to become a full-fledged librarian, while learning about life, and being the best she can be.